2020. Every pundit on TV was forecasting the “new normal.”
Karl Schroeder wasn’t convinced there would be one.
Karl lives a double life. He is a #ScienceFiction novelist with ten books translated into a dozen languages, and a professional #futurist with a master’s in Strategic Foresight and Innovation. The Canadian army commissioned two of his short novels as research tools. Few people practice both the art and the science of the future. Karl does.
So in the middle of the #COVID19 lockdowns, I invited him back for our third conversation, with one question on my mind: what is #foresight actually good for when the world breaks?
His opening move would make most forecasters uncomfortable. Prediction is impossible.
From there, we get into Isaac Asimov’s dream of equations for history, the “default future” we all carry around without noticing, how foresight played out in Alberta’s oil industry, wild cards, and why story sits at the center of it all.
And then there’s: the discipline of making the familiar strange. That’s the idea I walked away with.
Swap the virus for #AI, and this conversation barely needs an update. The same rush for certainty. The same confident headlines. I’ll let you decide whether we learned anything.
What in your own work has become so familiar you no longer see it?
Watch or listen to my full conversation with Karl Schroeder on foresight, and COVID-19 here: [ https://snglrty.co/4dJZSxC](https://snglrty.co/4dJZSxC)
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Karl Schroeder is not only a great science fiction writer but also a professional futurist who has mastered both the art and science. I invited Schroeder back on my podcast for a brief discussion of foresight in the context of the on-going COVID19 global pandemic. If you have not seen our previous 2 interviews you can see those here and here.
During this 70 min interview with Karl Schroeder, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: fundamentals of futurism and foresight; Isaac Asimov’s equations of history; change, our default future and why prediction is impossible; the new normal, or lack thereof; the impact of foresight on Alberta’s Oil Industry; – i.e. learning to make the familiar strange; wild-card scenarios, COVID19 and the importance of story.